Current Read: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Current Listen: The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Hello, internet! Happy New Year! It's been a busy end of the year, as usual (there was one weekend in December where I sang 7 concerts between Friday night and Sunday night), but I have been able to get enough reading in to complete (and exceed) my reading goal for the year! My goal was to read 110 books in 2017, and I ended up reading 125. This year I decided to make a spreadsheet of my read this year so I could keep track of what kinds of books I read, particularly in terms of representation. If you're interested, here is a link to my 2017 list!
What books did Katie read in 2017?
Some statistics that I thought were interesting:
-I read 23 books written by an author that is not American.
-I read 38 books written by people of color.
-I read 82 books written by women.
-I read 42 young adult fiction books (that is honestly not as high as I thought it would be).
-I read 26 middle grade and children's books.
-I read 22 graphic novels.
-I read 22 adult fiction books.
-I read 17 nonfiction books.
Some interesting things for me to think about regarding what I like to read and what I could read more of. This year I am going to attempt to write down what my favorite books were this year. I always find this SUPER challenging, since on the whole I do not read a lot of books that I don't like. But we're gonna try. I've been agonizing over it, and I decided to do a top 5 for YA, a top 5 for adult fiction, and a top 5 for non-fiction. These lists will be in no particular order (because putting them in order would make it 10 times harder).
TOP 5 YOUNG ADULT
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Warcross by Marie Lu
TOP 5 ADULT FICTION
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
The Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown
Artemis by Andy Weir
TOP 5 NON-FICTION
Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
Dear Ijeawele and We Should All Be Feminists by Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie (I'm gonna count these two as one because they are both about 50 pages each)
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie
There are so many more that could have been included, but overall I think I am pretty happy with these lists. This has maybe been my best reading year ever, and in the next week I will be letting you all know what my reading resolutions are to make 2018 even better. That's all she read!
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Monday, October 9, 2017
Let's Talk Graphic Novels
Current Read: The Reader by Traci Chee
Current Listen: Morning Star by
Pierce Brown
2017 Reading Challenge Count:
98 out of 110 books
Hey internet! I have a bookish
thing on my mind that I wanted to mull over. And that thing is graphic novels.
I feel that, on the whole, the
book world tends snubs its nose at the graphic novel. Until quite recently
(probably fall of 2016), I was guilty of this as well.
No longer, I say. My eyes have
been OPENED.
I'm not sure if the graphic
novel is experiencing a renaissance or if it has always been this good, but
MAN! Some of the graphic novels being released are just...top-notch. I've even
added a few to my all time favorites list. So I thought I'd give you a
breakdown of some of my recent favorites. I feel it's my duty to expose more
people to this magical world of great art.
Spill Zone
Written by Scott Westerfeld
Illustrated by Alex
Puvilland
Colored by Hilary Sycamore
This book inspired me to write
this post. I have never actually read a Scott Westerfeld novel (they're on the
list, but so are a lot of things), but I heard a booktuber mention this and
picked it up at the library. It takes place in the aftermath of some sort of
nuclear event in Poughkeepsie, NY. It follows Addison, a teen who lives near
the remains of the "zone" and illegally enters it to take pictures.
Quite the intriguing concept by itself, but the artwork that accompanies it makes
the story endlessly more compelling. The book uses two main color schemes, one
for inside the zone and one for outside. Outside the zone uses mostly dark,
muted colors and a lot of shadows, but when Addy enters the zone the color
palate changes to sickly greens, oranges, yellows, and pinks. IT'S SO COOL.
My only complaint is that there
is only one volume out so far.
The March Trilogy
Written by John Lewis and
Andrew Aydin
Illustrated by Nate Powell
This is John Lewis' three
volume graphic memoir of his involvement in the civil rights movement. That
description alone was enough for me to SCRAMBLE to read them all, especially
since the third came out fairly recently and I could marathon them. As a
teacher, it is universally acknowledged that graphic novels are very helpful
with reluctant readers. Part of the crazy acclaim for these books, then, has
been that they take the civil rights movement and represent it with POWERFUL
visuals that will help future generations understand the importance of these
events. Additionally, they don't dumb anything down. The first book actually
begins with John Lewis in early 2009 while attending Barack Obama's
inauguration, which I thought was a cool way to begin the story. The first book
then takes the reader through the founding of the Student Non-Violent
Coordinating Committee, of which Lewis was a leading member. Books two and
three then take us through the freedom rides, the drama between the SNCC and
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the march on Washington, and the
fight for the Voting Rights Act. I appreciated that Lewis did not shy away from
telling of the ideological divisions that existed within the major players of
the movement, and it seemed to me to be a fairly unbiased telling of the facts.
To me, a memoir gives itself way more credibility if it does not sugarcoat
things. And also, just look at these COVERS.
Lumberjanes
Created by Grace Ellis and
Shannon Watters
Illustrated and written by
like...20 different awesome women
Lumberjanes is a graphic novel
series that takes place at Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqui Thistle
Crumpet's Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. It began from a desire to created a
girl-focused comic book series and has more or less turned into a sensation. It
has featured eight different illustrators and five different authors in its six
volumes, all women. This maybe should have been confusing, but did not bother
me at all. The storytelling for the books seems very consistent and I barely
noticed that some volumes had very different artistic styles. The series
centers around one cabin of girls at camp and their adventures while trying to
earn different badges (the descriptions of which are VERY funny). Magic is
incorporated into the plot of the books in a very smooth and almost casual way.
The books are not about the magic, but rather about the relationships between
the girls. Each character has grown and become more complex which each book,
and I'm VERY MUCH invested in all of them (particularly in the great romance
developing ever so slowly). A favorite feature of the books is how the
exclamations of the characters will almost ALWAYS include the names of famous
women, many of whom I have never heard of. The below blog compiled a list of
every woman featured so far and did a great job:
Saga
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Illustrated by Fiona Staples
One cannot, in my opinion,
recommend graphic novels without talking about Brian K. Vaughan. I could, and
probably will, write an entire post about him someday. Saga was repeatedly
recommended to me by a friend, and I was soooooooo skeptical. Glad I finally
caved, though, because it is one of the best stories I have ever consumed in
any form. Written and conceived by Vaughan and illustrated BEAUTIFULLY by Fiona
Staples, it is everything a space opera can and should be. It follows Alana and
Marko, lovers from opposing sides of an opposing war, and every volume has
enhanced the story's beauty like...10 times over. I have never for a moment
considered owning a graphic novel series until this one. I have DEVOURED every
volume and then often just turned back to the beginning and read them again. It
has been praised for its representations of diversity in gender, sexuality,
race, and socio-economic status, and it is one of the best stories about war and
its impact that I've ever read. Also, there's a cat called Lying Cat who can
tell when you are lying and will tell you so. I CANNOT PRAISE THIS SERIES
ENOUGH. Someone please buy me all the volumes for Christmas.
The beautiful Alana and
Marko:
And a scene with Lying Cat and
a child rescued from sex trafficking that made me WEEP:
Brian K. Vaughan has also begun
another series, Paper Girls, which has a much more Strangers Things vibe with
fierce newspaper delivery girls and aliens and time-travelling and I LOVE IT
JUST AS MUCH. Only three volumes are out so far, but I would accept those as
Christmas gifts as well.
Alright. Well I wrote WAY MORE
than I planned to, but these books deserved to be loved. Some honorable
mentions that I did not have time to talk about, but that are also great:
Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Maus I/II by Art Spiegelman
(all modern graphic novels owe their existence to these books)
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
American Born Chinese by Gene
Luen Yang
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Thanks for sticking with me!
Let me know if you have a favorite graphic novel that I need to check out! And
with that, that's all she read!
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
War...What Is It Good For?
Current Read: Last in a Long Line of Rebels by Lisa Lewis Tyre
Current Listen: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
2017 Reading Challenge Count: 88 out of 110 books
Hey internet! It's been...not quite 11 months.
In my defense, this summer was crazy. Two close friends got married, one in upstate New York. I saw Hamilton twice. I went on a cruise and got engaged.
But while all that was happening, I kept reading. And I knew that once things settled down I wanted to come back to this. So here we go!
Over Labor Day weekend, I read two middle grade books. I imagine people judge me for the number of middle grade books that I read, and I'll admit that I am occasionally embarrassed when strangers ask me what I'm reading--it generally ends with me mumbling something about how I know it's a kids book but I'm a teacher, I promise. Most often I read middle grade for the Young Hoosier Book Award program. Students at my school can read them and earn prizes, and I read them so they think I'm cool. I end up rating most of them three stars, since often they are not written with adults in mind and aren't super engaging for me.
Every year, though, there are one or two that astonish me.
This year one of those books was Pax, by Sara Pennypacker.
This book begins with a fox and a boy in the back seat of a car. The fox is concerned and confused, as his boy seems distressed. The fox is left in a forested area and the car drives away.
I will admit, I was not captivated right away. I picked this book up and read the first chapter over the summer and then dropped it for something more summer-y. But I'm so glad I picked it up again.
The storytelling and pacing that follows in this book is nothing short of masterful. The story is told from the perspectives of both Pax (the fox) and Peter (his boy). It is revealed early on that Peter has been left to live with his grandfather while his father goes to do...something. We quickly learn that whatever his father is doing must be related to a war that adults around Peter have been discussing. Peter, though, immediately deeply regrets leaving Pax and sets off on a foolhardy mission to find him. Pax, meanwhile, encounters a pair of foxes who, though very suspicious of his human-like scent, teach him to try to survive in the wild.
Through the perspective of a 13-year-old and a fox, Pennypacker manages to impart some gorgeous insight into the consequences of war. The foxes refer to the human soldiers as the "war-sick" and describe the horrible electrical smell of an area full of landmines. Peter is aided in his quest by a woman with PTSD who has lost a leg in this same war and has chosen to live completely off the grid. This book was like nothing I've ever read. It was so powerful to read about a war from those innocent, confused perspectives. It was a visceral experience as a reader, and the ending completely tore me apart. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the beautiful, stark illustrations. I finished this book four days ago, and it has stuck with me.
After I finished Pax, I unthinkingly grabbed John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Readers who have read this book will immediately know that that probably was not wise. Whoops. I picked up an illustrated edition at the library after seeing it (and being vaguely aware of the movie) for years. It was also featured on an Amazon list of 100 Young Adult Books to Read in a Lifetime, and you guys know I can't resist a good reading list.
This story centers around Bruno, who has recently had to move from his very nice home in Berlin to a small house in a place called "Out-With." Again, I love the use of a child's perspective to discuss a dark topic. It's such an effective way to point out the illogical nature of war. He decides to explore his new home and encounters "the dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy." He begins a secret friendship with this boy, Schmuel, who lives on the other side of the fence. The book is written with a gorgeous, sparse simplicity that very effectively evokes childhood, and the illustrations are mostly in black and white, with spots of color for details such as blue eyes or red arm badges.
The book, as you can imagine, ends tragically. But it is absolutely worth reading. I am continually amazed and heartened by the fact that the world has yet to run out of high quality Holocaust and World War II literature in all genres, and I am particularly impressed by literature for and about children.
Both Pax and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas seem like easy, throw-away reads, but nothing could be farther from the truth. And in these uncertain times, I can only imagine how much books like these about conflict (fictional or not), will give young people a little more understanding of the confusing decisions adults make that impact everyone and everything.
I promise to be back again soon, and for now, that's all she read.
Current Listen: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon
2017 Reading Challenge Count: 88 out of 110 books
Hey internet! It's been...not quite 11 months.
In my defense, this summer was crazy. Two close friends got married, one in upstate New York. I saw Hamilton twice. I went on a cruise and got engaged.
But while all that was happening, I kept reading. And I knew that once things settled down I wanted to come back to this. So here we go!
Over Labor Day weekend, I read two middle grade books. I imagine people judge me for the number of middle grade books that I read, and I'll admit that I am occasionally embarrassed when strangers ask me what I'm reading--it generally ends with me mumbling something about how I know it's a kids book but I'm a teacher, I promise. Most often I read middle grade for the Young Hoosier Book Award program. Students at my school can read them and earn prizes, and I read them so they think I'm cool. I end up rating most of them three stars, since often they are not written with adults in mind and aren't super engaging for me.
Every year, though, there are one or two that astonish me.
This year one of those books was Pax, by Sara Pennypacker.
This book begins with a fox and a boy in the back seat of a car. The fox is concerned and confused, as his boy seems distressed. The fox is left in a forested area and the car drives away.
I will admit, I was not captivated right away. I picked this book up and read the first chapter over the summer and then dropped it for something more summer-y. But I'm so glad I picked it up again.
The storytelling and pacing that follows in this book is nothing short of masterful. The story is told from the perspectives of both Pax (the fox) and Peter (his boy). It is revealed early on that Peter has been left to live with his grandfather while his father goes to do...something. We quickly learn that whatever his father is doing must be related to a war that adults around Peter have been discussing. Peter, though, immediately deeply regrets leaving Pax and sets off on a foolhardy mission to find him. Pax, meanwhile, encounters a pair of foxes who, though very suspicious of his human-like scent, teach him to try to survive in the wild.
Through the perspective of a 13-year-old and a fox, Pennypacker manages to impart some gorgeous insight into the consequences of war. The foxes refer to the human soldiers as the "war-sick" and describe the horrible electrical smell of an area full of landmines. Peter is aided in his quest by a woman with PTSD who has lost a leg in this same war and has chosen to live completely off the grid. This book was like nothing I've ever read. It was so powerful to read about a war from those innocent, confused perspectives. It was a visceral experience as a reader, and the ending completely tore me apart. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the beautiful, stark illustrations. I finished this book four days ago, and it has stuck with me.
After I finished Pax, I unthinkingly grabbed John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. Readers who have read this book will immediately know that that probably was not wise. Whoops. I picked up an illustrated edition at the library after seeing it (and being vaguely aware of the movie) for years. It was also featured on an Amazon list of 100 Young Adult Books to Read in a Lifetime, and you guys know I can't resist a good reading list.
This story centers around Bruno, who has recently had to move from his very nice home in Berlin to a small house in a place called "Out-With." Again, I love the use of a child's perspective to discuss a dark topic. It's such an effective way to point out the illogical nature of war. He decides to explore his new home and encounters "the dot that became a speck that became a blob that became a figure that became a boy." He begins a secret friendship with this boy, Schmuel, who lives on the other side of the fence. The book is written with a gorgeous, sparse simplicity that very effectively evokes childhood, and the illustrations are mostly in black and white, with spots of color for details such as blue eyes or red arm badges.
The book, as you can imagine, ends tragically. But it is absolutely worth reading. I am continually amazed and heartened by the fact that the world has yet to run out of high quality Holocaust and World War II literature in all genres, and I am particularly impressed by literature for and about children.
Both Pax and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas seem like easy, throw-away reads, but nothing could be farther from the truth. And in these uncertain times, I can only imagine how much books like these about conflict (fictional or not), will give young people a little more understanding of the confusing decisions adults make that impact everyone and everything.
I promise to be back again soon, and for now, that's all she read.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Fall Break Reads: Timekeeper
Current read: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Current listen: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
It's been awhile AGAIN. Apologies. Last weekend I performed at Carnegie Hall AND finally saw Hamilton on Broadway. Things have been CRAZY. I've had time to read books, but not that much time to tell you about them. TRYING to get back into the habit of just doing it every time I finish a book. SO...I thought over the next few days I would tell you about some things that I've read over my teacher fall break.
First, I finished Timekeeper by Tara Sim. This was an advanced reader's copy given to me by my lovely friend Laura who is super legit and is Tara's literary agent. This is the first in a new YA fantasy trilogy that takes place in an alternate Victorian England--steampunk in the best sense. In the world of Timekeeper, clock towers literally keep the world running. If something happens to a clock tower (a misplaced gear, a cracked glass clock face, etc.), it could seriously endanger the citizens in a tower's domain. The main character, Danny Hart, is a young, talented clock mechanic, who learned all he knows from his father, Christopher, who is stuck in a Stopped town.
While Danny attempts to figure out how to save his father, he begins to take mysterious assignments in Enfield, where a clock is repeatedly having strange problems. It quickly turns out that these Enfield assignments will alter Danny's destiny, and much adventure ensues.
There are many things I loved about this book. First, I felt the world building was very well-integrated into the story and was both ambitious and believable. There is a really neat mythological set up to explain the power of the clock towers and the mechanics who control them that is just really interesting and well-written. I also felt that the writing of the characters in the novel is very well done. There was a lot of attention paid to secondary characters that gave the story a lot more meaning, and Tara Sim does not shy away from making her main characters flawed (which I REALLY appreciate). The suspense and mystery writing in this book is also VERY well executed.
My favorite thing about this book, though, is this. Danny Hart is gay. There is a gay romance element to the novel, and I find this to be incredibly significant to the future of YA as a genre. This novel has shown that gay romances do not have to be their own separate genre, nor do they have to be a cute, throw-away side story in a story with mainly heterosexual characters. The romance in this book is written just like any other romantic element of a YA fantasy or dystopian novel. They just happen to be gay characters. GOLD STAR, TARA SIM. I loved this book and look forward to reading the next in the series.
Well. Originally was going to talk about a couple more books, but I would probably ramble on about them as much as I did for Timekeeper. No one wants to read that much at once. I'll be back in the coming days with more reviews, and until then, that's all she read!
Current listen: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
It's been awhile AGAIN. Apologies. Last weekend I performed at Carnegie Hall AND finally saw Hamilton on Broadway. Things have been CRAZY. I've had time to read books, but not that much time to tell you about them. TRYING to get back into the habit of just doing it every time I finish a book. SO...I thought over the next few days I would tell you about some things that I've read over my teacher fall break.
First, I finished Timekeeper by Tara Sim. This was an advanced reader's copy given to me by my lovely friend Laura who is super legit and is Tara's literary agent. This is the first in a new YA fantasy trilogy that takes place in an alternate Victorian England--steampunk in the best sense. In the world of Timekeeper, clock towers literally keep the world running. If something happens to a clock tower (a misplaced gear, a cracked glass clock face, etc.), it could seriously endanger the citizens in a tower's domain. The main character, Danny Hart, is a young, talented clock mechanic, who learned all he knows from his father, Christopher, who is stuck in a Stopped town.
While Danny attempts to figure out how to save his father, he begins to take mysterious assignments in Enfield, where a clock is repeatedly having strange problems. It quickly turns out that these Enfield assignments will alter Danny's destiny, and much adventure ensues.
There are many things I loved about this book. First, I felt the world building was very well-integrated into the story and was both ambitious and believable. There is a really neat mythological set up to explain the power of the clock towers and the mechanics who control them that is just really interesting and well-written. I also felt that the writing of the characters in the novel is very well done. There was a lot of attention paid to secondary characters that gave the story a lot more meaning, and Tara Sim does not shy away from making her main characters flawed (which I REALLY appreciate). The suspense and mystery writing in this book is also VERY well executed.
My favorite thing about this book, though, is this. Danny Hart is gay. There is a gay romance element to the novel, and I find this to be incredibly significant to the future of YA as a genre. This novel has shown that gay romances do not have to be their own separate genre, nor do they have to be a cute, throw-away side story in a story with mainly heterosexual characters. The romance in this book is written just like any other romantic element of a YA fantasy or dystopian novel. They just happen to be gay characters. GOLD STAR, TARA SIM. I loved this book and look forward to reading the next in the series.
Well. Originally was going to talk about a couple more books, but I would probably ramble on about them as much as I did for Timekeeper. No one wants to read that much at once. I'll be back in the coming days with more reviews, and until then, that's all she read!
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Illuminae and BookTube-A-Thon News
Current Read: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
Current Listen: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Let's talk about Illuminae, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
Kady and Ezra have just broken up. Very theatrically. Both are moping happily when their planet, the site of an illegal mining operation, is attacked by a rival interstellar corporation.
All hell breaks loose. Kady, Ezra, and the thousands of escaping refugees from the planet are evacuated onto the only three available ships: a commercial vessel from the planet, a science research vessel, and a United Terran Authority battle ship. The three damaged ships must make it out of the wilderness of space to a UTA check point with the evil corporation BeiTech hot on their tails.
To make matters worse, it soons become clear that one ship's AI system, AIDAN, might have been damaged to the point of...insanity. And BeiTech may have released some sort of chemical agent onto the refugees on one of the othe ships. Kady and Ezra must overcome their differences. They might be the only hope the fleet has.
OH MY GOODNESS WHAT A BOOK. If that plot seems a little complicated...it is. It's much more complex than your average YA, and it made it a MUCH better book. On top of that, the format of the book is a "casefile" compiled by one of the corporations to document the whole mess after the fact. So many pages are in the form of email correspondence, IMs, or descriptions of video surveillance. Any of this could have been mediocre to the detriment of the book. FORTUNATELY, it was just...perfectly executed. Kady and Ezra are very well written characters, and Kady is about as far from damsel in distress as you can get. AIDAN, the damaged AI, is almost more intriguing than she, the AI system struggling with the idea of his own consciousness, trying to determine how to best "protect his fleet." Here are some samples of some of this REALLY NEAT art in the book:
This book, which comes in at 599 pages, is a little intimidating. Please don't let that stop you from reading it. It goes by quickly, and it's SO WORTH IT. The sequel, Gemina, reportedly comes out in October. 5/5 stars.
In other news, I've decided to participate in BookTube-A-Thon this year! This is an annual event from July 18-24 that is a whole week of reading. There are reading challenges and video challenges posted every day. I figured that, as a teacher, I don't have much of an excuse not do it. Hopefully it will get me more interested in making videos again! Which is scary, but fun. Here's a link to my "TBR" video, where I go through all of my picks for the different challenges:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTDWQ6dGWys
There will definitely be at LEAST one blog post, but I would count on more. Lots of reading happening in the next few weeks before school starts again. I should get back to it. That's all she read!
Current Listen: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Let's talk about Illuminae, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
Kady and Ezra have just broken up. Very theatrically. Both are moping happily when their planet, the site of an illegal mining operation, is attacked by a rival interstellar corporation.
All hell breaks loose. Kady, Ezra, and the thousands of escaping refugees from the planet are evacuated onto the only three available ships: a commercial vessel from the planet, a science research vessel, and a United Terran Authority battle ship. The three damaged ships must make it out of the wilderness of space to a UTA check point with the evil corporation BeiTech hot on their tails.
To make matters worse, it soons become clear that one ship's AI system, AIDAN, might have been damaged to the point of...insanity. And BeiTech may have released some sort of chemical agent onto the refugees on one of the othe ships. Kady and Ezra must overcome their differences. They might be the only hope the fleet has.
OH MY GOODNESS WHAT A BOOK. If that plot seems a little complicated...it is. It's much more complex than your average YA, and it made it a MUCH better book. On top of that, the format of the book is a "casefile" compiled by one of the corporations to document the whole mess after the fact. So many pages are in the form of email correspondence, IMs, or descriptions of video surveillance. Any of this could have been mediocre to the detriment of the book. FORTUNATELY, it was just...perfectly executed. Kady and Ezra are very well written characters, and Kady is about as far from damsel in distress as you can get. AIDAN, the damaged AI, is almost more intriguing than she, the AI system struggling with the idea of his own consciousness, trying to determine how to best "protect his fleet." Here are some samples of some of this REALLY NEAT art in the book:
This book, which comes in at 599 pages, is a little intimidating. Please don't let that stop you from reading it. It goes by quickly, and it's SO WORTH IT. The sequel, Gemina, reportedly comes out in October. 5/5 stars.
In other news, I've decided to participate in BookTube-A-Thon this year! This is an annual event from July 18-24 that is a whole week of reading. There are reading challenges and video challenges posted every day. I figured that, as a teacher, I don't have much of an excuse not do it. Hopefully it will get me more interested in making videos again! Which is scary, but fun. Here's a link to my "TBR" video, where I go through all of my picks for the different challenges:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTDWQ6dGWys
There will definitely be at LEAST one blog post, but I would count on more. Lots of reading happening in the next few weeks before school starts again. I should get back to it. That's all she read!
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Travel Reads
Current Read: Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Current Listen: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Hey there. If you didn't know, I just got back from the magical land that is Peru. Learned a lot, grew spiritually as a person, hiked 27 miles through the Andes, etc. And then I had a birthday! I'm now 26. Closer to 30 than 20. Crazy. BUT. Now that I'm home and recovered (and avoiding a deep clean of my apartment that desperately needs to happen), I thought I'd share with you what I read when I was traveling!
First, my travel philosophy is this: With long trips especially, the idea of running out of things to read just HORRIFIES me. Like nightmares forever. And even though the rational part of me knows that I could, you know, BUY another book if I ran out of things to read, this doesn't generally compute while I'm packing. So for this 17 day trip I brought...8 books. Which is too many. I only bring paperbacks, and obviously only things that I own. And even with virtually no reading happening during the four day hike, I still got all the way through four books and halfway through a fifth. Also, unless I really, really love a book, I leave it in whatever hostel we happen to be staying in. So I did come back a few books lighter. Here's the rundown:
1) The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. This one had been on the shelf for a long time, since I didn't want to read it until I finished all the Austens (all the COMPLETE Austens, anyway). This is the story of a group of women (and one man) at various points in their lives who participate in a book club that is exclusively for Jane Austen novels. The story follows their lives as they read, and I think one is supposed to see the parallels between their lives and those of Jane Austen's heroines. This book was kind of a letdown, to be honest. The characters were compelling, and I thought some of the language she used was really clever and very Austen-y, but it didn't keep my attention as much as I thought it could have. I did like that it is full of dynamic, mostly female characters, most of whom are not driven SOLELY to fulfill a romantic story line. And their discussions of the books did make me want to go back and read all of the Austens again. Gave it 3/5 stars. Left it in Cusco.
2) Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. THIS BOOK. I did not leave this one in South America. About 20 pages in I started writing notes in the margins. My travel companion was probably tired of hearing excerpts by the time I finished it. I grabbed it off my shelf because I have owned it for YEARS, but it was accidentally the perfect book for the trip. The book begins at a birthday party being held in a third world South American country. The party is for a Japanese CEO who might invest in the struggling country, and his favorite opera singer has been brought in to sing at the party. After her last aria, the party is hijacked by a group of terrorists who are searching for the president of said country. The book, though, is not a traditional thriller. It is a beautiful, beautiful character study of both the hostages AND the terrorists. The prose is just magnificent, especially when Patchett writes about music. Long example, but I couldn't stand to cut it down:
"They each had a task, extremely specific instructions. The lights were to be cut off after the sixth song, no one ever having explained in their lives the concept of an encore. No one having explained opera, or what it was to sing other than the singing that was done in a careless way, under one's breath, while carrying wood into the house...When a girl in their village had a pretty voice, one of the old women would say she had swallowed a bird, and this was what they tried to say to themselves as they looked at the pile of hairpins resting on the pistachio chiffon of her gown...But they knew this wasn't true. In all their ignorance, in all their unworldliness, they knew there had never been such a bird."
MAGIC. Also, the further along in the book I got, the more convinced I became that it is meant to take place in Peru. References to Lima, to Quechua, to pisco...it just made it that much more magical to me. As you can imagine, this sort of scenario can't end happily. So brace yourself. But READ IT. 5/5 stars.
3) Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. I may be the only person in the universe who had not read this book. So I figured it was about time. I read it all the way through during our massive travel day, when we had to go from Puno, at the southern tip of Peru, to Lima, then Lima to Tarapoto, then Tarapoto to Iquitos, way up north at the Amazon River Basin. I did stay up to finish it despite the tiring, stressful nature of that day, so that says something. This very, very famous book is an imagining of the circumstances behind the creation of one of the most famous paintings in western art history, Girl With a Pearl Earring. The novel does a great job of imagining not only Vermeer's life, but the lives of his family and the other citizens in the town of Delft. Nothing particularly earth-shattering, but a very entertaining, compelling read. Hopefully someone else in Lima gets to enjoy it. 3/5 stars.
4) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. BECAUSE IT WAS TIME. Though I think that I have sadly missed my opportunity to see the movie in theaters. This was much more than just chick lit. I love how this book takes the boy meets girl story and has it star the quirky best friend character and a douche bag quadriplegic. Will Traynor has lost his will to live after an accident leaves him unable to continue his daredevil lifestyle, and Louisa is hired to be his companion and wants to show him that life is still worth living. OH MAN. The crying. All the crying. The sequel is hopefully coming from the library soon. 4/5 stars.
5) The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean. You guys already know how I love me some World War II historical fiction. Marina is an elderly woman struggling with Alzheimer's disease, and though she has trouble remembering her children, she is increasingly recalling what she has tried so long to forget: her time as a tour guide at the Hermitage museum during the siege of Leningrad. The most powerful aspect of this novel is how young Marina must use her memory of the museum as it was before the war to cope with her present circumstances, which is then contrasted with her frustration with Alzheimer's. I enjoyed the flashback sections of this much more than the present day material, but I am generally just not a fan of Alzheimer's/dementia related plot lines. I have to stay disengaged or I will just become a complete emotional wreck. I saw the movie Still Alice by myself for a reason. Though it wasn't a perfect book, it was very enjoyable and moved Russia much higher up on my list of places to travel. 3/5 stars.
And now here we are. I'm home and back to reading more library books than books I already own. But I guess that's better than reading books that I own because I bought a bunch of new ones. More to come soon because yay summer! That's all she read.
Current Listen: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Hey there. If you didn't know, I just got back from the magical land that is Peru. Learned a lot, grew spiritually as a person, hiked 27 miles through the Andes, etc. And then I had a birthday! I'm now 26. Closer to 30 than 20. Crazy. BUT. Now that I'm home and recovered (and avoiding a deep clean of my apartment that desperately needs to happen), I thought I'd share with you what I read when I was traveling!
First, my travel philosophy is this: With long trips especially, the idea of running out of things to read just HORRIFIES me. Like nightmares forever. And even though the rational part of me knows that I could, you know, BUY another book if I ran out of things to read, this doesn't generally compute while I'm packing. So for this 17 day trip I brought...8 books. Which is too many. I only bring paperbacks, and obviously only things that I own. And even with virtually no reading happening during the four day hike, I still got all the way through four books and halfway through a fifth. Also, unless I really, really love a book, I leave it in whatever hostel we happen to be staying in. So I did come back a few books lighter. Here's the rundown:
1) The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. This one had been on the shelf for a long time, since I didn't want to read it until I finished all the Austens (all the COMPLETE Austens, anyway). This is the story of a group of women (and one man) at various points in their lives who participate in a book club that is exclusively for Jane Austen novels. The story follows their lives as they read, and I think one is supposed to see the parallels between their lives and those of Jane Austen's heroines. This book was kind of a letdown, to be honest. The characters were compelling, and I thought some of the language she used was really clever and very Austen-y, but it didn't keep my attention as much as I thought it could have. I did like that it is full of dynamic, mostly female characters, most of whom are not driven SOLELY to fulfill a romantic story line. And their discussions of the books did make me want to go back and read all of the Austens again. Gave it 3/5 stars. Left it in Cusco.
2) Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. THIS BOOK. I did not leave this one in South America. About 20 pages in I started writing notes in the margins. My travel companion was probably tired of hearing excerpts by the time I finished it. I grabbed it off my shelf because I have owned it for YEARS, but it was accidentally the perfect book for the trip. The book begins at a birthday party being held in a third world South American country. The party is for a Japanese CEO who might invest in the struggling country, and his favorite opera singer has been brought in to sing at the party. After her last aria, the party is hijacked by a group of terrorists who are searching for the president of said country. The book, though, is not a traditional thriller. It is a beautiful, beautiful character study of both the hostages AND the terrorists. The prose is just magnificent, especially when Patchett writes about music. Long example, but I couldn't stand to cut it down:
"They each had a task, extremely specific instructions. The lights were to be cut off after the sixth song, no one ever having explained in their lives the concept of an encore. No one having explained opera, or what it was to sing other than the singing that was done in a careless way, under one's breath, while carrying wood into the house...When a girl in their village had a pretty voice, one of the old women would say she had swallowed a bird, and this was what they tried to say to themselves as they looked at the pile of hairpins resting on the pistachio chiffon of her gown...But they knew this wasn't true. In all their ignorance, in all their unworldliness, they knew there had never been such a bird."
MAGIC. Also, the further along in the book I got, the more convinced I became that it is meant to take place in Peru. References to Lima, to Quechua, to pisco...it just made it that much more magical to me. As you can imagine, this sort of scenario can't end happily. So brace yourself. But READ IT. 5/5 stars.
3) Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. I may be the only person in the universe who had not read this book. So I figured it was about time. I read it all the way through during our massive travel day, when we had to go from Puno, at the southern tip of Peru, to Lima, then Lima to Tarapoto, then Tarapoto to Iquitos, way up north at the Amazon River Basin. I did stay up to finish it despite the tiring, stressful nature of that day, so that says something. This very, very famous book is an imagining of the circumstances behind the creation of one of the most famous paintings in western art history, Girl With a Pearl Earring. The novel does a great job of imagining not only Vermeer's life, but the lives of his family and the other citizens in the town of Delft. Nothing particularly earth-shattering, but a very entertaining, compelling read. Hopefully someone else in Lima gets to enjoy it. 3/5 stars.
4) Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. BECAUSE IT WAS TIME. Though I think that I have sadly missed my opportunity to see the movie in theaters. This was much more than just chick lit. I love how this book takes the boy meets girl story and has it star the quirky best friend character and a douche bag quadriplegic. Will Traynor has lost his will to live after an accident leaves him unable to continue his daredevil lifestyle, and Louisa is hired to be his companion and wants to show him that life is still worth living. OH MAN. The crying. All the crying. The sequel is hopefully coming from the library soon. 4/5 stars.
5) The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean. You guys already know how I love me some World War II historical fiction. Marina is an elderly woman struggling with Alzheimer's disease, and though she has trouble remembering her children, she is increasingly recalling what she has tried so long to forget: her time as a tour guide at the Hermitage museum during the siege of Leningrad. The most powerful aspect of this novel is how young Marina must use her memory of the museum as it was before the war to cope with her present circumstances, which is then contrasted with her frustration with Alzheimer's. I enjoyed the flashback sections of this much more than the present day material, but I am generally just not a fan of Alzheimer's/dementia related plot lines. I have to stay disengaged or I will just become a complete emotional wreck. I saw the movie Still Alice by myself for a reason. Though it wasn't a perfect book, it was very enjoyable and moved Russia much higher up on my list of places to travel. 3/5 stars.
And now here we are. I'm home and back to reading more library books than books I already own. But I guess that's better than reading books that I own because I bought a bunch of new ones. More to come soon because yay summer! That's all she read.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Updates On My Audible Habit...
Current read: Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Current listen: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Hey all! Finished some things, but they weren't all that exciting. I'm trying to be consistent.
First, I finished Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass. This was a series of novellas and extra scenes from the Selection series. I read it in an afternoon pretty easily. I did find them very enjoyable even though it has been several months since I read the first three books of that series. It was a good combination of things that could be called prequels, some that were other perspectives of events from the books, and some that took place after the first three. That whole series is just SLIGHTLY trashy. Which is not to say that I don't love them. I definitely love them. Don't let anyone ever tell you that trashy books aren't worth your time. You do you.
Second, I finished the audio book version of The Plantagenets by Dan Jones. Whoa. What a journey this book was. I contemplated stopping several times and picking it up later, but not because it wasn't interesting. There was just A LOT packed into this book. It begins with the circumstances that led up to the crowning of Henry II and ends after the deposition of Richard II. That's 300ish years of English royal history, which I knew next to nothing about going in. I learned a WHOLE lot (not that it is really relevant knowledge to my life, but whatever), but it was almost overwhelming with no context at all. I had heard of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart, but other than that, I had nothing. NOT ANYMORE. Lots of fun drama and scandal in addition to, you know, wars with France and Scotland and whatnot. I will eventually read the sequel, The War of the Roses, but it will be awhile before I take that plunge. I wouldn't recommend this book in the audio book format, since it is one of those where you might want to go back and reference things. Lots of different people named Henry and Richard and Edward and John. Overall, though, a very worthwhile read if you are into history.
I also wanted to catch you all up on what's been going on in my audio book life during my little hiatus. Here are some favorite audio books I've listened to on Audible in the past several months:
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin
A bitter widower runs a bookstore on a small, close knit island. His life is turned upside down when a young girl is left helpless in his store and he decides to take her in. LOVED this. Great for book lovers, but also really just for everyone. Many feels.
The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart
Another one that I wouldn't recommend on audio book, but it was on sale. An in depth guide to all the plants used to make alcohol, mixers, and other ingredients/garnishes. Lots of fun tidbits and trivia in addition to the basics. I will never be able to drink cheap tequila again.
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Great performance by reader Cassandra Campbell. The story of a Chinese American family (Chinese dad, white mom) and their struggles in 1970s small-town Ohio. At the beginning of the story, their golden child, Lydia, is found dead in the town's lake. The story of this death and its aftermath is told very well through the perspectives of father, mother, sister, and brother. Great dramatic read, but very sad.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Narrated by the author. WHAT A READ. Will listen to again. Amazing, amazing, amazing stuff.
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan
A very interesting look at the town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where most of the material used in the first atomic bombs was enriched--mostly by young women who had know idea that the small, repetitive tasks they did each day would change the course of history. Not as good as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, but a similar style.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Again, narrated by the author. I love Mindy Kaling with all of my soul. Just under the great Amy and Tina on my list of favorite female celebrities. I really appreciate her honesty and her perspective as a woman who looks more like the average American woman.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Narrated by the great Bryan Cranston. This is one of the best books about Vietnam ever written, and Bryan Cranston made me feel like I was there. Another amazing book.
Lock In by John Scalzi
I highly recommend any audio book narrated by Wil Wheaton. The man has a gift. He did both of Ernest Cline's books (Armada and Ready Player One), and this one was also great. A detective novel, but set in a time when millions of people have contracted a disease known as Hayden's Syndrome, which causes people with fully functional minds to be locked into their paralyzed bodies. A really cool premise, interesting characters, and a decent mystery.
WOW. I've been busy. If you want anymore details about a particular audio book, please let me know. For now, that's all she read!
Current listen: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Hey all! Finished some things, but they weren't all that exciting. I'm trying to be consistent.
First, I finished Happily Ever After by Kiera Cass. This was a series of novellas and extra scenes from the Selection series. I read it in an afternoon pretty easily. I did find them very enjoyable even though it has been several months since I read the first three books of that series. It was a good combination of things that could be called prequels, some that were other perspectives of events from the books, and some that took place after the first three. That whole series is just SLIGHTLY trashy. Which is not to say that I don't love them. I definitely love them. Don't let anyone ever tell you that trashy books aren't worth your time. You do you.
Second, I finished the audio book version of The Plantagenets by Dan Jones. Whoa. What a journey this book was. I contemplated stopping several times and picking it up later, but not because it wasn't interesting. There was just A LOT packed into this book. It begins with the circumstances that led up to the crowning of Henry II and ends after the deposition of Richard II. That's 300ish years of English royal history, which I knew next to nothing about going in. I learned a WHOLE lot (not that it is really relevant knowledge to my life, but whatever), but it was almost overwhelming with no context at all. I had heard of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart, but other than that, I had nothing. NOT ANYMORE. Lots of fun drama and scandal in addition to, you know, wars with France and Scotland and whatnot. I will eventually read the sequel, The War of the Roses, but it will be awhile before I take that plunge. I wouldn't recommend this book in the audio book format, since it is one of those where you might want to go back and reference things. Lots of different people named Henry and Richard and Edward and John. Overall, though, a very worthwhile read if you are into history.
I also wanted to catch you all up on what's been going on in my audio book life during my little hiatus. Here are some favorite audio books I've listened to on Audible in the past several months:
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, by Gabrielle Zevin
A bitter widower runs a bookstore on a small, close knit island. His life is turned upside down when a young girl is left helpless in his store and he decides to take her in. LOVED this. Great for book lovers, but also really just for everyone. Many feels.
The Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart
Another one that I wouldn't recommend on audio book, but it was on sale. An in depth guide to all the plants used to make alcohol, mixers, and other ingredients/garnishes. Lots of fun tidbits and trivia in addition to the basics. I will never be able to drink cheap tequila again.
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
Great performance by reader Cassandra Campbell. The story of a Chinese American family (Chinese dad, white mom) and their struggles in 1970s small-town Ohio. At the beginning of the story, their golden child, Lydia, is found dead in the town's lake. The story of this death and its aftermath is told very well through the perspectives of father, mother, sister, and brother. Great dramatic read, but very sad.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Narrated by the author. WHAT A READ. Will listen to again. Amazing, amazing, amazing stuff.
The Girls of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan
A very interesting look at the town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where most of the material used in the first atomic bombs was enriched--mostly by young women who had know idea that the small, repetitive tasks they did each day would change the course of history. Not as good as The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, but a similar style.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Again, narrated by the author. I love Mindy Kaling with all of my soul. Just under the great Amy and Tina on my list of favorite female celebrities. I really appreciate her honesty and her perspective as a woman who looks more like the average American woman.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Narrated by the great Bryan Cranston. This is one of the best books about Vietnam ever written, and Bryan Cranston made me feel like I was there. Another amazing book.
Lock In by John Scalzi
I highly recommend any audio book narrated by Wil Wheaton. The man has a gift. He did both of Ernest Cline's books (Armada and Ready Player One), and this one was also great. A detective novel, but set in a time when millions of people have contracted a disease known as Hayden's Syndrome, which causes people with fully functional minds to be locked into their paralyzed bodies. A really cool premise, interesting characters, and a decent mystery.
WOW. I've been busy. If you want anymore details about a particular audio book, please let me know. For now, that's all she read!
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